Unsurprisingly, there isn’t really a foodie culture in a country that the World Food Programme deems as suffering from ‘chronic food insecurity’. Like a lot of Sub-Saharan Africa, the staple crop (when rains allow) is maize. It is usually boiled with water and cooked into ‘pap’, a filling, but essentially nutritionally valueless meal. Beans and… Read More Mielies and Mangoes

The sun beats down hard on the red lowveldt soil. It’s only mid-morning in October but the high sunlight bouncing off my baby’s white skin makes me wince as I cover most of him and sling him onto my back. Up there, he’s almost out of reach of 30 pairs of curious hands… but just… Read More Pagama Bomage

Hey everyone, we now have internet!! Here’s a copy of a newsletter I sent out at the end of October – apologies if you didn’t receive it, using the internet has been difficult until now. This version is edited to remove politically sensitive material. Thank you so much to all who have been in touch.… Read More October Impressions

Sawubona from Siteki! We made it! The long haul overnight was fine – some even slept. Next a transfer through Jo’burg airport with tired kids, too many rucksacks and irritation at yet another airport security check led to mango sorbet for breakfast to cheer everyone up. Then it was time to head onwards to Manzini… Read More Soft Landing 

The countdown is on… 2 more sleeps! We fly on Thursday – first to Frankfurt, on to Jo’burg and then to Swaziland. This time next week, we’ll have had four nights under Swazi skies…  It turns out life is pretty crazy when you’re moving a family to Africa in 3 days time.  We thought moving… Read More Sugar highs and sad goodbyes

I’m on a plane !  And it’s the first time I’ve had 5 minutes peace in a long time…. peace from endless to do lists, errands, packing, repacking, moving, packing. Children are occupied with kindles,  a peace which comes completely free of parental guilt at 30-something thousand feet… baby cooing  happily. We’ll see how long… Read More Plane Post 

3 weeks to go! Yikes, it’s all getting a bit real. The stress levels and emotions are running high… Here’s what we’ve been up to. Dedicating Micah- we had the great privilege of having Micah dedicated at our church on Sunday and had lots of lovely family and friends in town to help us celebrate.… Read More Mambas and Meltdowns

“You’re not getting paid?!” The eyes of my friend grew wide. Despite being a good friend and having been part of our journey in deciding to go to Swaziland, I hadn’t made it clear that Nick’s job is unsalaried and that we are responsible for meeting most of our costs. So, I will make it… Read More Bottom Lines 

It’s definitely time I told you about our family’s plan to spend a year in Swaziland. Yup. Really. For those who don’t know us we are Nick (qualified GP and doctor in Public Health), Jenny (doctor in Obstetrics & Gynaecology), Noah (aged 7, obsessed with Lego, geography and animal habitats), Elsie (aged 4, likes a… Read More Riches of Swaziland